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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. --
The New York Times
just took a look inside the Pleasantville home of Will Shortz, who edits the crossword puzzle for the paper.

Shortz admitted he was embarrassed by the state of the room, which has more than 25,000 puzzle books, dating back to 1534, along with other puzzles and pamphlets.

Shortz has been with the Times since 1993 and he told the
newspaper
his goal was to draw in a younger and more diverse audience. Shortz spends his days working with the digital puzzles editor, Joel Fagliano, editing the puzzles he receives, about 75 a week.

The puzzles get more difficult as the week progresses, with Monday's being the easiest.

When he is not editing crossword puzzles, Shortz is the owner of the Westchester Table Tennis Center, located in Pleasantville. He hosts a puzzles segment on NPR and is program director for the National Puzzlers League Convention. He is the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.